Written by Thomas Moore

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In 1994, the NFL celebrated its 75th anniversary and, as part of the festivities, released a documentary on the history of the league.

One of the people interviewed was Sammy Baugh, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1963. Baugh played for the Redskins from 1937 to 1952, and help bring the forward pass to prominence in what was then a run-oriented league.

We still remember the look on Baugh’s face when he talked about the modern game and how much he would have loved playing in the modern era. “It’s a passing man’s game,” he said with obvious joy in his voice.

Fast forward 17 years and we can only imagine what Baugh would say about the passing game of today’s NFL.

New Orleans’ quarterback Drew Brees threw for an NFL single-season records for passing yards with 5,476, completions with 468 and completion percentage at 71.6 percent.

New England’s Tom Brady (5,235 yards) and Detroit’s Matthew Stafford (5,038 yards) joined Brees in the 5,000-yard club. Brees threw for 46 touchdowns, Aaron Rodgers had 45 touchdown passes and Stafford threw 41.

Which brings us to the Browns.

Quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Seneca Wallace combined to “lead” the Browns to their lowest point total in a season since 2000. McCoy threw for 2,733 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing just 57 percent of his passes; Wallace added 567 yards and two touchdowns on a 51 percent completion rate.

Green Bay’s Matt Flynn almost surpassed Wallace’s total in one game on Sunday, but that did come against a secondary featuring Eric Wright, so the game made need an asterisk next to it.

Clearly what the Browns were putting on the field on offense wasn’t working this season. And despite Wallace’s insistence that he is a starting quarterback, where not sure we’re ready to see that happen.

Wallace cited the 3-5 record he put up one year in Seattle when he started eight games; but over a full season that’s just 6-10. We’re not confident that trading a four- or five-win McCoy for a five- or six-win Wallace is really going to appease an agitated fan base.

Coach Pat Shurmur seems open to the possibility of either quarterback starting next season if it comes to that.

“As we go forward here with Colt, I feel like he has done some really good things,” Shurmur said in his season-ending press conference. “We’ll get him back healthy and get him in an offseason where he has a chance to develop. I expect that Colt will improve, just like I expect Seneca will improve and whomever the quarterbacks are here. I think that can be said for all positions. The best quarterback will play when we start the season.”

Shurmur also, thankfully, confirmed the team will hire an offensive coordinator for next year.

“I am going to hire an offensive coordinator and he may come from the staff or he may come from outside the building,” Shurmur said. “I want to hire the best coordinator that I can and that’s the goal. I went into this season knowing that we were going to do it at this time so that’s the goal.

“I think what’s important is I get the very best guy and like I said earlier, we’ll talk about the details of the role. The offensive coordinator is responsible for the offensive coaches, he’s mainly responsible for putting the plan together, directing the offense and doing a lot of the things that I did as the head coach. The game day thing, calling plays, is a fun thing for all of us to do and I want to get the best guy I can. I want to win games so I’m going to get the guys in here that are going to help us do that.”

That’s definitely good news. We weren’t sold on the idea of Shurmur calling the plays when he announced it at his hiring, and there wasn’t anything we saw during the season to make us change our mind. There are just too many things to keep track of on game day, especially for a first time head coach; adding the responsibility of callings plays is just too much.

It would have been nice if team president Mike Holmgren had told Shurmur that before the season, of course, but sometimes the best way to get someone to understand something is to let them figure it out for themselves.

One name being tossed around is former Minnesota coach Brad Childress, who worked with Shurmur in Philadelphia.

Childress was on the Eagles staff from 1999 to 2005 and, while he did not call the plays on offensive, he is credited for his work with quarterback Donovan McNabb, who made five Pro Bowls while working with Childress.

Childress couldn’t work the same kind of magic in Minnesota, where he was head coach from 2006 to 2010, as he struggled to deal with Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels at quarterback, before spending time with Brett Favre.

Whether Childress is actually someone the Browns will consider, and if he will be enough to excite the fans, remains to be seen. But at least Shurmur gets the fan’s frustration.

“I’m made aware of the way fans feel and I’m sensitive to that, I get that,” he said. “I want to win as badly as everyone does.  I do think there is some building that needs to happen and you need to win and build at the same time, I get that, in a division that’s very competitive.

“What I’m going to build on in my mind is those two or three or four or five things in those games that can make a difference as we move forward.  I told the players this, if we all get this much better, then the results will be that much better.  I think that’s what we need to do.  I’m not patient either, I get it. I understand what the fans are going through.”

It’s clear the Browns need upgrades throughout the offense. The good news is, if this weekend’s bowl games were any indication, this is the year to draft offensive players (or that college defenses are just really, really bad). And with the Browns holding three of the top 37 picks in the upcoming draft, the opportunity is there for the team to accelerate the rebuilding of the offense.

With the 2011 season in the books, Shurmur’s work is done. It’s now general manager Tom Heckert’s turn to step up.

Let’s hope he has a better time off the field than Shurmur had on it this year.

(Photo courtesy of NFL.com)